Applications, e.g., software applications available over the World Wide Web, that provide driving directions, and that plot driving routes on maps, are well known. For example, many presently existing applications allow a user to provide a specific starting address, e.g., an address in Detroit, Mich., and a specific destination address, e.g., an address in New York, N.Y. Such presently existing applications might then provide the user with a set of step-by-step directions regarding the route to take to get from a specified starting address to the specified destination address. Further, such known applications may plot a driving route on a map to provide a visual representation of the provided driving directions. Further, some presently existing applications have the ability to suggest stopping points along the suggested driving route.
However, existing applications are limited to providing users with a suggested list of stopping points based on short lists of business categories. For example, a user may be able to specify an interest in stopping points associated with “restaurants,” but the user will be unable to specify the names of specific restaurants at which the user would like to stop. Thus, users of existing applications are unable to specify the precise location of their desired stopping points, nor are they able to specify with precision what they would like those stopping points to be.
Further, persons driving from point A to point B often may want to stop along the way at a specific street address. For example, someone driving from Detroit to New York may want to stop to see a friend in Cleveland. Moreover, a person driving from point A to point B might want to specify a particular place on a map at which the person would like to stop while enroute, e.g., to get gas, visit an attraction, etc. For example, the person driving from Detroit to New York may wish to stop at Niagara Falls, which may be easily found on a map. Further, a person driving from point A to point B may want to stop a certain distance from either point A or point B along the route. For example, the person driving from Detroit to New York may wish to stop after driving two-hundred (200) miles from Detroit, e.g., to get gas. Further, a person driving from point A to point B may want to stop along the way for a specific purpose, e.g., to buy a gift for a friend, before having lunch with the friend at a Chinese restaurant. Similarly, the person driving from point A to point B may wish to stop at a specific business of other location along the way. However, existing applications do not allow users to specify where they wish to stop according to points on maps or according to specific purposes or location names.
Accordingly, a need exists for an interactive route based search application that allows users to search for stopping points along driving routes, where the stopping points satisfy the user's precise search criteria.